FPAUDI: Croft: Round 18 race notes

LUCIANO BACHETA VITORIOUS AT CROFT
Championship race moves to Sunday
Round 18 of the Visma Formula Palmer Audi Championship at Croft has been
won by Luciano Bacheta, ahead of Matt Hamilton and Stefan Wilson. The
result means that the title...

LUCIANO BACHETA VITORIOUS AT CROFT
Championship race moves to Sunday

Round 18 of the Visma Formula Palmer Audi Championship at Croft has been
won by Luciano Bacheta, ahead of Matt Hamilton and Stefan Wilson. The
result means that the title race will now be decided tomorrow (Sunday, 23
September), with championship leader Tim Bridgman finishing in fourth.

With most eyes focussing on the title race, Bacheta went about his
business quietly, leading from start to finish in a commanding
performance, despite an engine problem which developed during the race.

"I was unsure about the engine right from the green flag lap. There
was a misfire, so I didn't touch the boost at all. I used it once
on the final lap on the start-finish straight, and the engine blew
up," said Bacheta afterwards.

Matt Hamilton proved why is a driver to watch, with a tactical drive to
second, and great passes along the way. "I made an appalling start
due to a problem with changing from first to second gear, but coming
through the field has given me real confidence for tomorrow. I put a
decent move on Tim on lap nine, but I think he was more concerned with
the title to put up too much of a fight. It was also really important to
set a fast lap in the race to qualify well for race three,"
commented Hamilton.

Stefan Wilson's goal for round 18 was quite simple -- finish
ahead of Tim Bridgman to take the championship fight over to Sunday.
Things didn't start well for Wilson, when he slipped from seventh
to ninth on the first lap after a poor getaway, but he soon found his
rhythm, proving he is a worthy title rival to Bridgman.

"I had a really bad start, but once I got going I just kept
overtaking people at the final hairpin. I used all my boosts early on, so
was never going to catch Matt and Luciano at the end," said Wilson.

Tim Bridgman was philosophical about his finishing position, and the
bigger picture in the championship. "I flat-spotted my tyre in the
second qualifying session, so I knew I was going to be a sitting duck out
there. On top of that, my engine didn't feel good and I had to use
the boost just to keep in touch. I'm grateful of my championship
lead, because all my bad luck seems to have come at once," he said.

Bridgman now has a 46 point lead over Wilson, and needs only to score
three points in round 19 to clinch the championship tomorrow. Racing is
scheduled to start at 1300.